Editing Pediment (section)

{{short description|Element in classical, neoclassical and baroque architecture}}
{{for|the geological formation|Pediment (geology)}}
[[File:Illustrations of types of pediments.jpg|thumb|300px|Types of pediment; "curved" and "broken" examples at the lower right]]

'''Pediments''' are a form of [[gable]] in [[classical architecture]], usually of a triangular shape.  Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the [[cornice]] (an elaborated [[lintel]]), or [[entablature]] if supported by [[column]]s.<ref>Summerson, 130</ref> In ancient architecture, a wide and low triangular pediment (the side angles 12.5° to 16°) typically formed the top element of the [[portico]] of a [[Greek temple]], a style continued in [[Roman temple]]s. But large pediments were rare on other types of building before [[Renaissance architecture]].<ref>Summerson, 28</ref>  For symmetric designs, it provides a center point and is often used to add grandness to entrances.
[[File:Madeleine collage.jpg|thumb|[[Neoclassicism#Sculpture|Neoclassical]] pediment of the [[La Madeleine, Paris|Madeleine Church]], Paris, with sculpture (1826–1834) by [[Philippe Joseph Henri Lemaire]]<ref name="Luebke">{{cite book |last1=Luebke |first1=Wilhelm |title=History of Sculpture from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time: Tr. by F.E. Bunnètt, Volume 2 |date=1 January 1878 |publisher=Smith |page=468 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i80MAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA468 |access-date=11 September 2021}}</ref>]]

The cornice continues round the top of the pediment, as well as below it; the rising sides are often called the "raking cornice".<ref>Or "slanting cornice" by Lawrence, xxx & xxxi</ref>  The [[Tympanum (architecture)|tympanum]] is the triangular area within the pediment, which is often decorated with a [[pedimental sculpture]] which may be freestanding or a [[relief]] sculpture.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Sturgis|first=Russell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L7AaAAAAYAAJ|title=European Architecture: A Historical Study|publisher=Macmillan|year=1896|location=The New York Public Library|pages=3,558|language=en}}</ref>  The tympanum may hold an inscription, or in modern times, a clock face.

The main variant shapes are the "segmental", "curved", or "arch" pediment, where the straight line triangle of the cornice is replaced by a curve making a segment of a circle, the '''broken pediment''' where the cornice has a gap at the apex,<ref>Summerson, 130</ref> and the '''open pediment''', with a gap in the cornice along the base. Both triangular and segmental pediments can have "broken" and "open" forms.<ref>Summerson, 130</ref> 

Pediments are found in [[ancient Greek architecture]] as early as 580 BC, in the archaic [[Temple of Artemis, Corfu]], which was probably one of the first.<ref>Lawrence, 113-114</ref>  Pediments return in [[Renaissance architecture]] and are then much used in later styles such as [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]], [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]], and [[Beaux-Arts architecture]], which favoured the segmental variant.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}}